Pivotable loading ramp for ships



April 18, 1967 K. A. GIAEVER-ENGER ET AL 3,314,389

PIVOTABLE LOADING RAMP FOR SHIPS Fi led Sept. 18, 1964 s Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS BMW *TJMWW April 18, 5 EVER-ENGER ETAL PIVOTABLE LOADING RAMP FOR SHIPS Filed Sept. 18, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS United States Patent 4 Claims. (cl. 114-72) This invention relates to an arrangement for the loading and unloading of ships and to a method of carrying this out.

In the loading and unloading of ships, it has been proposed to arrange an opening in the ships side which is normally covered by a side port. On opening the side port and swinging it outwards so that it can be driven on to, the cargo can then be brought into or out of the opening. Well-known in this connection are, for example, car ferries where the opening to the associated port is often arranged in the stem and/or or stern.

By utilising this principle in conventional cargo vessels, disadvantages arise since they are, generally speaking, much more deeply loaded than, for example, ferries and, at the same time, they must often be loaded and unloaded at locations having large tide variations.

Furthermore, the height of the quay is often different. While in the case of car ferries, this can be largely compensated for by stationing the loading port, which constitutes the driving ramp, more or less obliquely, so that, if desired, it slopes upwards from the ships side at one time and at another time, downwards from the ships side, this solution would for various reasons be far more difiicult to employ for conventional dry cargo vessels. Often the ship has too low a deck for the driving ramp to have sufiicient length, just to mention one of the many factors which come into play here.

On the other hand, it is desirable to be able to rationalise loading and unloading by using trucks for piece goods, but because of the above-mentioned difiiculties this has only been carried out to a very limited extent.

According to the present invention a combined side port and loading ramp for ships comprises a side port which when in an approximately vertical position normally covers an opening in the side of the ship and is supported in a mounting capable of being pivoted about a horizontal axis thereby enabling the side port to be swung to a position at which it can be driven on to and permitting freight to be directed in through said opening, and said mounting also being capable of vertical adjustment whereby a compound vertical and pivotal movement can be given to the side port thus enabling the latter to be pivoted between its extreme positions when the ship is at the quay.

Preferably, the side port is adjustable in the vertical direction by means of an elevating arrangement which can be controlled independently of a driving arrangement for pivoting the side port. In this way, the side port can be pivoted between its extreme positions even when the quay is considerably higher than the lower end of the side port in the closed position thereof.

The invention also includes a method of loading and unloading ships incorporating the novel combined side port and loading ramp of the penultimate preceding paragraph, in which a first truck is employed on the quay or on board to bring the freight forward to the opening within the range of a second truck which is loacted on board or on the quay and which picks up the freight either while it is located on the first truck or after the latter has deposited the freight at a position within the range of said second truck, whereupon the second truck conveys the freight to the stowage position.

In order that the invention can be more clearly understood, a convenient embodiment thereof will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic vertical cross-section of a combined side port and loading ramp constructed in accordance with the invention and illustrated in the fully closed position;

FIGURE 2 is a similar view to FIGURE 1 but shows the side port in its ramp-forming position with the outer end resting against the quay;

FIGURE 3 is an elevation, partly in section, showing the opening of the sideport and the controlling means therefor;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged vertical scrap section of the fastening for the lower end of the side port;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged horizontal scrap section of the fastening of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged vertical scrap section of the lower end of the side port;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged plan of the lower end of the side port shown in FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged horizontal scrap section of a detail of a side edge of the side port; and

FIGURE 9 is a side view, partly in section, of the side edge shown in FIGURE 8.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2 a combined side port and loading ramp, which is designated generally by the reference numeral 10, is utilised for a ship 11, so that freight can be loaded and unloaded through a side opening 12 between the ship and the quay 13. In the position which is illustrated in FIG. 1, the side port is disposed in the vertical position inside the side of the ship, so that it completely closes the side opening. In FIG. 2, the side port is shown swung outwards substantially horizontally and rests against the quay 13 at its outer end 14. In the position illustrated, the loading ramp-forming side port 10 is displaced vertically upwards at its lower end 15, so as to compensate for the difference in height between the port opening of the ship and the quay, all according to the water level which is dependent on the high and low tides and according to the displacement of the ship. By using the side port as a loading ramp, it is possible to transport the freight on the quay with one set of trucks and on board with another set of trucks, while intermediate loading can be brought about on the same loading ramp by driving the truck on the quay up on a movable inclined ramp 16 and then on to the loading ramp in order to deposit the freight, so that it can be readily picked up by the truck on board.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the ship is equipped with an upper deck, the bridge deck 17 and a lower lying deck, the shelter deck 18, together with a lowest deck, the main deck 19. The side opening 12 extends from a distance above the main deck 19, from a lower structure 20 and upwards a distance above the bridge deck 17 to an upper structure 21. On the upper structure 21 there is disposed a removable hatch 22 which covers an opening 23 in the bridge deck 17. Below the opening in the bridge deck 17 is the shelter deck 18 provided with pivotable hatches 24, 25 each with its supporting leg 26 which can rest against the lower structure 20. The hatches are pivotable about horizontal axes at 27 at their inner ends and can be pivoted independently of each other between a horizontal position as shown for the hatch 24 and a vertical position as shown for the hatch 25 by means of hydraulic pressure cylinders 28. As shown in FIG. 3, simultaneous loading or unloading through the side opening 12 can thereby be carried out from the main deck 19 by the upwardly pivoting hatch 25 and from the shelter deck 18 through the hatch 24.

Pi'v-oting of the side port between the position which is shown in FIG. I and the position which is shown in FIG. 2, is effected by means of a first pair of wires 30 (shown in dotted lines) which are secured approximately centrally of the side port to ears 31 at its side edge porlions. 'From the side port, the wires 30 pass over a pulley 32 at the top of the side opening: and downwards to a lower pulley 33 on the main deck and then in a multidivided path 30a, for example, divided into four, over the pulleys 34, 35. The pulleys 35 are mounted in a link arm 36 which is pivotably mounted at its one end 36a about a horizontal axis which extends at right angles to the side of the ship and at its other end 36b about a horizontal axis which extends through the upper end of an upwardly directed piston rod 37 in a hydraulic pressure cylinder 3-8, the lower end of which is pivotably mounted on the main deck.

By displacing the piston rod 37 downwards in the cylinder 38, the outer end 36b of the link arm 36 is pivoted downwards and releases, for example, a length of wire which corresponds to four times the movement of the piston rod in the cylinder. In the position of the piston rod which is shown in FIG. 3, the side port is disposed in the position which is shown in FIG. 1. In order to enable vertical displacement of the side port to be permitted from the position which is shown in FIG. 1, the piston rod 37 is adapted to be still urged a distance outwards of the cylinder 38 from the position which is shown in FIG. 3. Subsequently, as the length of the arms 37, 38 decreases and the wires 30 are slackened, the weight load on the wires from the side port decreases, and vice versa, so that the pressure of the arms 37, 38 can be maintained substantially constant. In the closed position of the side port, the angle between the arm 36 and the arm 37, 38 is less than 90, while the angle between the arm 36 and the arm 37, 38 is less than 180 in the maximum permitted outwardly pivoted position of the side port.

Raising of the lower side edge of the side port is effected by means of a second pair of wires 40 (shown in chain dotted lines) which are secured to the side port at its lower corners at 41 and each passes over its pulley 42 at the top of the side opening just below the pulleys 3-2 and then downwards to a lower pulley 43 on the main deck and horizontally over to a further pulley 44 and in a loop over an elevating pulley 45 and downwards to a fastening 46. The elevating pulley 45 is mounted on the upper end of a piston rod 47 in a hydraulic pressure cylinder 48 which is secured in a vertical position on the main deck.

In FIG. 3, the pressure cylinders 38 and 48 are located on each side of the opening 12 of the side port for the sake of clarity. In order to simplify mounting of the wiring of the pressure means, the cylinders can, however, be placed on one and the same side of the side port opening. The pressure cylinders are preferably coupled in paralllel and are operated in a manner known per se each by means of its respective guide shaft in a common control means.

So as to prevent horizontal displacement of the, side port when it is swung out to the loading ramp-forming position and so as to permit vertical displacement of the lower end edge of the side port, the lower end of the side port is provided, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, with guide bolts 50 which extend horizontally outwards in opposite .directions from each side edge of the side port. The ,guide bolts are displaceable each in its vertical guide groove 51 in the cam portion 52 which surrounds the opening of the side port. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the guide means 51 extend from just under the bridge deck and downwards to the lower structure 20, in a' fairly straight line. Just at the top of the structure 20, there is, however, cut out a notch 53 in the guide groove for the reception of the guide bolt when the side port is placed in front of the opening of the side port and the side port is to be displaced laterally to a gasket device in the fully closed position. In order to enable the side port to be lowered downwards to the same or to a lower level than the structure 20, it is preferred to be able to prevent the guide bolts from being unintentionally introduced into the notches 53. As is especially clearly evident from FIG. 5, an axially displaceable guide block 54 with a guide shoe S5 is disposed just within the notch 53. By means of a manually controllable screw spindle 56, the guide block 54 is axially displaceable so that the guide shoe 55 forms a temporary flush portion of the guide groove. The inner position of the guide block is regulated by means of an adjusting ring 57 on the spindle 56 and the outer position by means of a pin and slot guide 58, 59.

When the side port is completely shut, the side port can rest on the structure 26 on brackets 60 by means of fastening 41 for the wire 40, while the guide bolts take care of the horizontal guidance.

In FIGS. 6 and 7, there is shown an anchoring means 61 for battening down the side port 10 at its lower and, if desired, also at its upper end. The means consists of a bar 61a having a cross head 61!) at the one end and a screw-threaded portion 61c at the opposite end. The bar 61a is led through an oval slot (not shown) in a fixed member 62 which is fixedly connected to the structure 20 below the opening of the side port. The head 61b of the bar is introduced through a horizontal slot 63 in a locking member 64 in the side port 10 and on rotation in the oval slot in the fixed member, is pivoted vertically downwards with said bar 61a received in a vertical recess 65, while the head 61b is received in a space 64a behind the locking member 64. By means of a nut 66, the means 61 can be tightened into engagement with the locking member 64.

In FIGS. 8 and 9, there is shown an anchoring means 71 for battening down the side port 19 at its vertical side edges. The means 71 is fixed on a horizontal bracket 72 to a fixed plate 73. The means comprises a bar 71a which supports at one end two fork arms 71b having a transverse locking element 710 which is adapted to be hooked into engagement with the hock-shaped locking member 74 on the side port. The opposite end of the bar 71a is provided with screw threads 71d and by means of a nut 75, the means can be tightened and the side port forced into the fully closed position.

As is evident partially from FIGS. 5, 6, 7 and 9, the side port 10 is provided along the whole of its periphery with a pocket 84 in which there is received a solid rubber gasket 81 and one flange 82, which bounds the pocket 80, is provided with a projecting lug portion 83 of rod iron which extends along the whole of the periphery of the side port. Correspondingly, along the whole of the peripheral portion which encloses the opening of the side port, there is arranged a pocket 84 with a rubber gasket 85 and a projecting lug portion 86. When the side port is completely closed for shutting off the opening of the side port the fastening 41 rests, as mentioned, on the brackets 60, so as to ensure a sufficiently accurate engagement between the lug portion 86 on the frame portion 52 of the side opening and the gasket 81 on the side port and between the lug portion 83 on the port and the gasket 35 on the frame portion.

In order to prevent water being forced into the ship, a drain 90 is arranged along the top of the structure 20. From the drain, a connection leads to a downwardly disposed float arrangement (not shown), which warns the ships bridge through a suitable warning arrangement about the actual amount of water which has accumulated in the float arrangement.

What we claim is:

1. A combined side port and loading ramp for ships comprising, a side port which when in an approximately vertical position normally covers an opening in the side of the ship and is supported in a mounting capable of being pivoted about a horizontal axis to permit the side port to be swung to a position where freight can be directed over it through said opening, the side port being vertically adjustable by an elevating arrangement operable independently of a driving arrangement for pivoting the side port about the horizontal axis, the driving arrangement comprising a pair of parallel wires each secured at one end to the side port substantially radially of the pivotal axis thereof, said wires passing over a corresponding one of a pair of pulleys, both of which are disposed at the upper end of the side port's opening, and each secured at the other end to a means for adjusting the length of the wires, said adjusting means consisting of a two-armed link mechanism having a first arm pivotally mounted at one end about an axis extending at right angles to the side of the ship and at the other end about a horizontal axis passing through the upper end of a piston rod, the lower end of which is received in a pressure cylinder mounted at its bottom end, said piston rod and said pressure cylinder constituting a second arm, and additional pulleys mounted in the first arm adjacent to the upper end of the piston rod over which pass the pair of wires divided into a plurality of longitudinal wire portions, said adjusting means being such that the angle between the two arms is less than 90 when the side port is in the closed position and less than 180 when the side port is fully swung out.

2. A combined side port and loading ramp for ships comprising, a side port which when in an approximately vertical position normally covers an opening in the side of the ship and is supported in a mounting capable of being pivoted about a horizontal axis thereby enabling the side port to be swung to a position at which freight can be directed over it through said opening, said mount ing being also vertically adjustable, the side ports opening being disposed between three decks of the ship arranged one above the other, the middle or shelter deck being divided approximately into two equal portions at least one of which is pivotal relative to the remainder of the deck, the mounting for the side port being received in vertical guide grooves for vertical displacement thereof, each groove possessing a notch for horizontally guiding said mounting at the lower end of the side port, said notch extending horizontally and inwardly of the ship and being adapted to receive guide means of the side port when the latter occupies its fully close position, guide shoes adjustable toward and away from a corresponding one of the guide grooves and located just inside of the notch thereof, each shoe being adapted to be made flush with its guide groove in the region of the notch.

3. A combined side port and loading ramp for ships comprising, a side port which when in an approximately vertical position normally covers an opening in the side of the ship and is supported in a mounting capable of being pivoted about a horizontal axis thereby enabling the side port to be swung to a position at which freight can be directed over it through said opening, said mounting being also vertically adjustable, the side ports opening being disposed between three decks of the ship arranged one above the other, the middle or shelter deck being divided approximately into two equal portions at least one of which is pivotal relative to the remainder of the deck, the mounting for the side port being received in vertical guide grooves for vertical displacement thereof, each groove possessing a notch for horizontally guiding said mounting at the lower end of the side port, said notch extending horizontally and inwardly of the ship and being adapted to receive guide means of the side port when the latter occupies its fully close position, the side port being provided with supporting means resting on a horizontal base and arranged below and wi-thin the main plane of the side port in its closed position, the supporting means and the base together with the guide grooves and the co-operating guide means centering the side port in position to insure accurate sealing between gasket means on the side port and gasket means on a frame around the side ports opening.

4. A combined side port and loading ramp according to claim 3, wherein a first U-shaped pocket extending along the periphery of the side port receives a first gasket and a second U-shaped pocket ex-tending along the periphery of the frame receives a second gasket, each pocket being formed with a free outer flange having a lug constituting an abutment against the gasket of the other pocket.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,032,568 7/1912 Swift 114-72 1,292,097 1/1919 Schweinert 114-43.5 2,568,330 9/ 1951 Flippin 114-70 X 2,979,007 4/ 1961 Kummerman 114-72 3,078,075 2/1963 Richter 114-60 X 3,093,851 6/1963 Kummerman 114-71 FOREIGN PATENTS 289,372 3/1928 Great Britain. 689,310 3/1953 Great Britain.

MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner. FEGUS S. MIDDLETON, Examiner. T. M. BLIX, Assistant Examiner, 

1. A COMBINED SIDE PORT AND LOADING RAMP FOR SHIPS COMPRISING, A SIDE PORT WHICH WHEN IN AN APPROXIMATELY VERTICAL POSITION NORMALLY COVERS AN OPENING IN THE SIDE OF THE SHIP AND IS SUPPORTED IN A MOUNTING CAPABLE OF BEING PIVOTED ABOUT A HORIZONTAL AXIS TO PERMIT THE SIDE PORT TO BE SWUNG TO A POSITION WHERE FREIGHT CAN BE DIRECTED OVER IT THROUGH SAID OPENING, THE SIDE PORT BEING VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE BY AN ELEVATING ARRANGEMENT OPERABLE INDEPENDENTLY OF A DRIVING ARRANGEMENT FOR PIVOTING THE SIDE PORT ABOUT THE HORIZONTAL AXIS, THE DRIVING ARRANGEMENT COMPRISING A PAIR OF PARALLEL WIRES EACH SECURED AT ONE END TO THE SIDE PORT SUBSTANTIALLY RADIALLY OF THE PIVOTAL AXIS THEREOF, SAID WIRES PASSING OVER A CORRESPONDING ONE OF A PAIR OF PULLEYS, BOTH OF WHICH ARE DISPOSED AT THE UPPER END OF THE SIDE PORT''S OPENING, AND EACH SECURED AT THE OTHER END TO A MEANS FOR ADJUSTING THE LENGTH OF THE WIRES, SAID ADJUSTING MEANS CONSISTING OF A TWO-ARMED LINK MECHANISM HAVING A FIRST ARM PIVOTALLY MOUNTED AT ONE END ABOUT AN AXIS EXTENDING AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE SIDE OF THE SHIP AND AT THE OTHER END ABOUT A HORIZONTAL AXIS PASSING THROUGH THE UPPER END OF A PISTON ROD, THE LOWER END OF WHICH IS RECEIVED IN A PRESSURE CYLINDER MOUNTED AT ITS BOTTOM END, SAID PISTON ROD AND SAID PRESSURE CYLINDER CONSTITUTING A SECOND ARM, AND ADDITIONAL PULLEYS MOUNTED IN THE FIRST ARM ADJACENT TO THE UPPER END OF THE PISTON ROD OVER WHICH PASS THE PAIR OF WIRES DIVIDED INTO A PLURALITY OF LONGITUDINAL WIRE PORTIONS, SAID ADJUSTING MEANS BEING SUCH THAT THE ANGLE BETWEEN THE TWO ARMS IS LESS THAN 90* WHEN THE SIDE PORT IS IN THE CLOSED POSITION AND LESS THAN 180* WHEN THE SIDE PORT IS FULLY SWUNG OUT. 